There are many reasons for wanting to incorporate antimicrobial agents into textiles. For instance, antimicrobial activity may enhance the durability of textiles by inhibiting the growth of bacteria and fungi that live in textiles and cause damage to their components. Textiles with antimicrobial activity also prevent the creation of odors by preventing or reducing microbes from feeding on the organic materials in the textile. Additionally, antimicrobial treated textiles may kill pathogenic microbes thereby protecting the wearer from exposure to disease agents.
Other uses of antimicrobial treated textiles include wound care. For example, a medical bandage that has been treated with antimicrobial agents offers the wound a favorable environment for healing and further prevents bacterial organisms from growing at the site. Furthermore, antimicrobial treated textiles may prevent disease-causing microorganisms from surviving or even proliferating on the surface or in the internal crevices of the textile when the cloth soaks up or is exposed to contaminated fluid. The use of antimicrobial cloths may also prevent the cross contamination of bacterial infections between people or patients in a close environment, such as in a hospital, prison or on a military base.
Antimicrobial bedding linens offer an enhanced level of hygiene and security in hospital or hotel rooms. Their use may limit the transfer of bacterial disease in hospitals and lower the rates at which hospitalized patients acquire nosocomial infections, which have been increasing in frequency in recent years.
While textiles possessing antimicrobial characteristics have been introduced in recent years, most of these textiles are prepared by adding antimicrobial agents to the textile. Specifically, antimicrobial agents are impregnated into or coated onto the fibers of the textile during the manufacturing process. The antimicrobial agents are not, however, permanently bound to the textile fibers and are thus prone to leaching, such that these agents are absorbed by human skin. In addition to leaching, the antimicrobial agents are not able to withstand numerous washings, so that the antimicrobial effect may not last long. While certain treated textiles are known to be regenerable after exhaustion by the treated textiles, use of chlorine bleach is necessary to regenerate antimicrobial activity.
Thus, there is a need to overcome the aforementioned disadvantages. Current antimicrobial treatment of textile leaves a need for a means of providing various textiles with minimal leaching, more permanent antimicrobial characteristics, and that does not require use of chlorine bleach for regenerable antimicrobial properties.